Overview

Madagascar is the fourth biggest island on earth and because of its relative geographical isolation off the east coast of Africa, much of its flora and fauna exists nowhere else on earth. It is defined as a low income country, ranking 155th out of 187 countries in the 2014 Human Development Report (UNDP). Poverty in Madagascar has increased and today 72 percent of the country’s estimated 22 million people live below the national poverty line.

Madagascar’s president Hery Rajaonarimampianina (on left) met drought-affected people in the south of the island in mid-April. He was accompanied on his visit by WFP Country Director Willem van Milink (right). He thanked WFP and humanitarian partners for their support with hunger relief in the region.